The invention relates to a software detection method according to the preambles of the independent claims.
An electronic control device for e.g. an internal combustion engine or a gearbox contains software for controlling different applications of said engine or gearbox.
When an engine and gearbox is leaving the factory it has a predetermined version of the software installed. Said software may later on be upgraded by the manufacturer of the vehicle at for instance service points of the vehicle for certain reasons.
However, there are also a number of more or less irresponsible tuning firms which provide for numerous variants of software tuning installations. Such unauthorised software may cause premature component wear due to manipulations of originally defined system variables such as inter alia variables for controlling, injection timing, fuel amount injected to each cylinder, boost pressure, rpm limit and manipulation of the gear shift program. Such installations of unauthorized software may case the engine and/or gear box to present premature engine and/or gearbox failure and/or noticeable wear of such components which is a problem for the manufacturer and its guarantee commitment. When there is a mechanical failure due to the use of unauthorized software the owner of the vehicle usually install the original software for hiding the use of the tuning software which may have been the cause of such mechanical failure.
It is desirable to provide a method for detecting the use of unauthorized software use in an electronic control unit e.g. for an internal combustion engine and/or vehicle gearbox for making it possible for the vehicle manufacturer to prove non approved software installations.
In a first example embodiment according to an aspect of the invention a method is provided for detecting use of unauthorized software in an electronic control unit provided in a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of calculating CVN each time the engine is started, comparing a last calculated CVN with a last stored CVN in a list comprising a plurality of storage places for said CVN, storing said last calculated CVN if said last calculated CVN is different to the last stored CVN together with a date of an entry in said list of CVN and/or the current odometer status, removing entries in the list of CVN according to FIFO principle when said list of CVN is full.
An advantage with said example embodiment of the present invention is that vehicle manufacturer may control and/or detect unauthorized software in an easy and inexpensive manner.
In another example embodiment according to an aspect of the present invention said list of CVN entries comprises at least 10 storage positions.
An advantage with said example embodiment of the present invention is that the use of unauthorized software is more difficult to erase the more storage positions there is, i.e., a user must upload a number of different versions of software in order to erase the unauthorized software.
In another example embodiment of an aspect of the present invention said method further comprises the step of providing a separate list of CVN for different predefined parts of the software application.
An advantage of having different list of CVN for different parts of the software application may be that the manufacturer can detect more accurately where in the software there has been a change and if said change is authorized or not.
In another example embodiment of the present invention said method further comprises the step of restricting said CVN calculation to a maximum of one time per day.
An advantage of said example embodiment may be that it is more difficult to erase the trace of an unauthorized software since it will take several days or several weeks depending on the number of storage positions.
In another example of an embodiment of the present invention, said method further comprises the step of retrieving a list of CVNs with metadata (e.g. Odometer, date, time) for an on-board or off-board client utilizing e.g. a diagnostic communication protocol.
An advantage of said example embodiment of the present invention is that said list of CVN numbers may be easily detectable and easily visualized.
In the drawings, equal or similar elements are referred to by equal reference numerals. The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. Moreover, the drawings are intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention.